It's been a hectic but successful week. My plane leaves in about 45 minutes from the Memphis airport, on my way back home after delivering a successful day of training and coaching to a team of senior managers and execs from Telelogic, one of the top ten software companies in the world. (Fyi, because I'm a coach to many of the Fortune 500 companies, one of my investment strategies is to invest in the companies where I know personally who the top leadership is and their leadership style, and from what I've witnessed, this is a great team of people driving this organization.)

And as I'm sitting here in the airport, reflecting back on my time here and the people I've met who live here, I'm reminded how important it is for salespeople to know what it means to be truly sensitive to the various cultural, economic and behavioral differences that we find throughout our great country. After all, depending upon the part of the country you're in, you'll find different styles, philosophies and ways of conducting business. For example, people in the northeast operate from a different business mindset and pace than the people in the southeastern part of the country and that also includes how they sell and how they want to be sold. And it's not about what's wrong or what's right, it's just different. My point is, because of these subtle cultural and social differences, salespeople must be overly sensitive to how people in different parts of the country make purchasing decisions and conduct their business.

The selling strategy you would utilize selling someone something in New York is going to look different if you were to approach someone in the Carolinas, Tennessee, Washington, Texas, Chicago or San Francisco. Salespeople need to be chameleon-like and adapt to the style of each prospect and customer and how they like to buy, not only adapting to their personal style or personality but also the style in which they like to make purchasing decision which is often dictated by the geographic location in which they are based.

The social graces and sales etiquette subtly change from one part of the country to another. Where some of your clients or prospects in certain parts of the country may operate off a handshake to seal a deal and don't even want to deal with a contract, others require more due dilligence and structure. And while some clients are not interested and never will be in forming any type of relationship with you other than a business relationship just so that they can make the purchase, others will flat out refuse to buy from you until they've gotten to know you, have dined with you, golfed with you, met your family, looked you square in the eye to peer into your soul to see the type of person you are and what you're made of, and as such, have now become more than just a business acquaintance but a friend they trust.

I remember a story that my wife's uncle once shared with me. He's in the business of selling corrugated boxes. It was early on in his career when he was visiting a prospect in the south. A young, vibrant aggressive and successful salesperson at the time, the majority of Jon's sales were made up north, around the surrounding New York area, until an opportunity presented itself for him to meet with a prospect in Charlotte.

He walked into the office and shook the owner's hand. Ray, a tall, distinguished gentlemen in his mid fifties wearing a cowboy hat greeted Jon with a warm handshake. They sat down in Ray's office and began to discuss his needs. It was clear to Jon that not only could he help Ray, but would be able to get him a superior product at a lower price that he's currently paying the vender he's been using. The meeting was winding down and Jon thought, as he has always done in the past, to conclude the meeting by asking for Ray's business. Not realizing Jon was out of his element and out of the selling culture and environment he's used to, started moving the sales process to it's final conclusion, the sale.

Unfortunately, what happened next was something Jon didn't expect and at the time, didn't realize would become a huge learning opportunity for him in his career. (I call these A.F.G.O.'s. - Another Fabulous Growth Opportunity!) Ray looked at Jon, with a stern expression on his face and said, "Jonny, you may do business like that with the folks up North, but down here that's just not how we do things." Unknowingly, the more Jon pushed to move fast and close the sale focusing solely on the task at hand of selling, rather than fostering and nourishing a new relationship with Ray (which is what Ray was looking for), the more offended Ray became by the behavior of his Northern counterpart. Until finally, Ray had just put up with enough of what he could stomach and asked Jon to leave his office, without the sale. It didn't matter that Jon had a better product at a lower price. It just wasn't what was important to Ray during the first meeting. What was important to Ray was building and cultivating long term friendships with the people he does business with.

If you're selling to various clients that are located across the country or across the word, it's critical to your success that you uncover the style of selling and an approach they are comfortable with. That is, while each person has a different philosophy of how they like to conduct business and make a purchase based on their own buying style and habits, you must also develop a better understanding and become more knowledgeable about the region you are selling in and the subtle differences in selling and business philosophy you'll find on a geographical level.

And, whatever you do, never insult Southern cooking.